422 WOOD WARBLERS 



dusky patch. Adult male in fall and winter: like summer male, but yel- 

 low of crown and occiput obscured by olive tips to feathers, black streaks 

 of back obscured by grayish edges to feathers, and black throat patch 

 with whitish tips. Adult female in fall and winter : upper parts plain 

 grayish olive, crown with traces of yellow ; under parts brownish white, 

 throat and chest with feathers dusky below the surface. Young male in 

 Jirst fall and winter : like adult fall male, but crown 'olive green, back 

 more olive, streaking 1 concealed or obsolete ; sides of head paler yellow 

 washed with olive ; throat and chest whitish or yellowish, feathers black 

 under the surface ; rest of under parts soiled white ; sides and flanks 

 tinged with olive brown. Male : length (skins) 4.41-4.80, wing 2.48-2.72, 

 tail 1.93-2.05, bill .3T-.43. Female: length (skins) 4.37-4.72, wing 2.44- 

 2.48, tail 1.83-2.01, bill .3S-.39. 



Remarks. The adult males of this group of warblers may be distin- 

 guished by the color pattern of the side of the head. In the hermit it is 

 plain yellow ; in the black-throated green, crossed by an olive eye streak ; 

 in the yellow-cheeked, by a narrow black streak ; and in the Townsend 

 by a wide black band between superciliary and malar streaks. 



Distribution. Breeds in high mountains from British Columbia to Cali- 

 fornia, and from the Pacific coast district of the United States to the 

 Rocky Mountains ; migrates to Lower California, Mexico, and Guatemala. 



Nest. In coniferous trees, made of weed stems and pine needles, bound 

 by cobwebs and woolly materials, and lined with strips of cedar bark. 

 Eggs : dull white or grayish, spotted or blotched with lilac gray or browns, 

 chiefly around larger end. 



"The hermit warbler is a frequenter of the conifers, although it 

 feeds in the bushes and black oaks in common with other species. 

 Its song is different from that of any other Sierra warbler, and seems 

 well represented by the words zeegle-zeegle-zeegle-zeek, which I borrow 

 from Mr. Bowles, of Waldo, Oregon. At close range the song of 

 the hermit warbler appears weak rather than otherwise, yet at Fyffe 

 I was impressed with its penetration, The bird will often mount to 

 the higher branches of the conifers by successive hops, much after 

 the manner of the blue-fronted jay." (Barlow.) 



672. Dendroica palmarum (Gmel.}. PALM WARBLER. 



Adults in summer. Crown chestnut, bordered by yellow superciliary ; 

 back olive or brown, narrowly streaked with darker and becoming olive 

 green on rump and upper tail coverts ; two outer tail feathers with large 

 terminal spots of white ; throat, breast, and under tail coverts light yellow ; 

 chest, and sometimes sides of throat, more or less streaked ; belly whitish, 

 more or less mixed with yellowish. Adults in winter : chestnut of crown 

 obscured or concealed ; throat and chest whitish instead of yellowish. 

 Young in first fall and winter : similar, but upper parts browner, supercil- 

 iary less distinct, and markings of under parts more suffused. Length : 

 4.50-5.50, wing 2.52, tail 2.24. 



Distribution. Interior of North America, north to Fort Churchill, 

 Hudson Bay, and Great Slave Lake ; migrates through the Mississippi 

 valley, wintering in the South Atlantic and Gulf states, the West Indies, 

 and eastern Mexico ; accidental at Denver, Colorado, and on the Pacific 

 eoast, California. 



Nest . On the ground, made of grass, strips of bark, and moss, lined 



